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Larry Fitzgerald may be taking less money than was on his original contract, but many have noticed that the $22 million he’s getting guaranteed over the next two seasons is a great deal. That was Andrew Brandt’s theme as he analyzed the situation in a MMQB.com piece. Brandt’s thoughts — “With NFL finances clearly tilted towards management, there are few outliers who have ‘won’ on the business side like Fitzgerald” — took me back to something Fitz said during training camp.

It was the day Patrick Peterson had his press conference for his new lucrative contract, and Fitzgerald — as a veteran around the team — was asked his opinion of where the Cardinals were in terms of spending money.

Indeed, Fitz has made around $120 million already from the Cardinals on his various contracts since 2004. That doesn’t include a dime he’s made in endorsements, just the cash he’s gotten from the team. Now he gets another $22M guaranteed. It also dovetails nicely with the first part of Brandt’s column, which explains how the salary cap — in the end — doesn’t have to kill a team in terms of getting players.

You want cap space, but in the end, when asking about a marriage between a player and a team, just know that if the team wants the player bad enough, it can happen — regardless of the cap space or how expensive the player might be. Now, there is a give and take. You might be causing cap complications down the road, or the player you want may want more than you are willing to give him. But it’s rare that a player simply can’t be fit under whatever cap you might have.

Bringing it back to Fitz, it would have been interesting to see what Fitzgerald might have been able to get on the open market. Conventional wisdom says it wouldn’t have been as much as the Cardinals gave him, but it was important on many levels to keep Fitzgerald around. The two sides made it work. The Cards are trying to do the same with Darnell Dockett — and GM Steve Keim said those talks are ongoing.

My little brother and I yesterday was talking about how Fitz is a Boss on and off the field! As the 3rd overall pick, he got a 6 year deal worth 40 million with like 20-something million guaranteed, then he signed a 4 year deal worth 40 million with 30 million guaranteed like 3-4 years later, and then in 2011, the behemothic contract at 8 years, 120 million with 50 million guaranteed! He deserves EVERY PENNY for his on and off the field work! God bless Larry Fitzgerald!

The Cardinals and Larry worked out a fair pay scale for the next two year. SK did a great job of rewarding a guy who nearly won a SB for us (only our lousy game end defense screwed it up).
The Cards made a mistake in drafting Michael Floyd. Floyd and Larry are pretty similar receivers (although Larry is much more accomplished). The Cards need more explosiveness at the WR position.